1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for forming non-load-bearing walls of a building utilizing prefabricated, dimensionally identical, light-weight wall panels, the sides and ends of which are perimetrically supported by juncture members and by floor and ceiling runners.
2. Prior Art
Prefabricated building systems have been proposed to facilitate the erecting of walls in buildings. Many prefabricated building systems employ panels which are dimensionally different, one from another, and which are specially tailored to a specific building plan. Such systems have many disadvantages, including:
A. The manufacture of the panels is expensive because variations in panel construction and size: PA1 B. The erection of walls utilizing such panels is unduly costly because: PA1 A. required extensive fastening of wall panels along regions of juncture with adjacent panels, with ceiling and floor formations, with corner formations, and with door and window formations, whereby panel disassembly is rendered difficult and panel reusability may be diminished; and, PA1 B. necessitated the filling and taping of wall and panel joints in order to cover the locations of installed fasteners, thereby substantially increasing the problems encountered when the panels are removed and an attempt is made to reuse the panels.
(i) prevent true production efficiencies that can only be achieved by repetitively producing identical panels; PA2 (ii) require substantial engineering and drafting time for each building plan; PA2 (iii) necessitate that all panels be carefully and individually marked for identification so that each can be installed at its appropriate location; PA2 (iv) necessitate that panels be fabricated in a particular order rather than produced at an optimum time and stocked for prompt delivery; and, PA2 (v) increase the probability of mistakes occurring during production of the panels. PA2 (i) time is lost in searching for panels so that they can be erected in appropriate sequence; PA2 (ii) where the differences between some of the panels are small, or if there has been an error in marking, the panels can easily be confused and improperly installed during construction--and, once an improper panel has been put in position, it is often difficult and expensive to fully correct the mistake which may, by the time of its discovery, already have resulted in the cumulative dimensional displacement of several subsequently positioned wall panels; PA2 (iii) if a panel is damaged in transit or at the construction site, expensive delays can occur while a replacement panel is fabricated; and, PA2 (iv) many specialized wall panels are heavy and typically require the use of special equipment or the use of an unduly large number of workmen in order to position the panels, thereby increasing installation expense.
One approach which has been taken to obviate the foregoing problems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,832, issued June 4, 1974, entitled WALL FRAMING SYSTEM USING PREFABRICATED PANELS, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, hereafter the "Framing System Patent." The system described in the Framing System Patent employs three types of framing panel structures, namely door, window and wall panels. The wall panels are dimensionally identical one with another and are, accordingly, completely interchangeable. Since the wall panels are dimensionally identical, the manufacturing disadvantages noted above are obviated. The window and door panels vary in width in accordance with the width of the window and door openings they define, each of these panels being essentially as narrow as the required opening-defining framework will permit.
The building system described in the Framing System Patent is principally intended for use in framing load-bearing walls of a building structure such as a home or residential garage. Wall panels are abutted to frame walls between adjacent window and wall panels. If less than a full wall panel is needed adjacent a window or door panel, a wall panel is cut to proper width. Wall panel scrap is minimized, where practicable, by using each cut-off wall panel portion as the next wall framing component to be erected.
A problem not addressed by the Framing System Patent is that of erecting interior, non-load-bearing walls with dimensionally identical wall panels which can be disassembled at a later time to permit repositioning of walls with reuse of the wall panels. While the need for a building system employing lightweight, prefabricated wall panels has been acknowledged in the prior art, many proposals addressing this problem have:
Where proposals for wall erection systems have not required extensive use of fasteners and/or joint filling, the panels have tended to be either unduly heavy, complex and expensive, or have resulted in relatively weak, structurally unacceptable wall constructions.